


This Changes Everything

by ElizabethDarcy78



Category: Mad Men
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship/Love, Post Season 3 Canon Divergence, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethDarcy78/pseuds/ElizabethDarcy78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1963, Peggy Olson refused Don Draper's invitation to join his new agency. Now it's 1965 and she finds herself at a crossroads. Will she take a chance on a new venture that could lead to happiness? </p><p>Matthew Weiner and Lionsgate own everything, I own nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Changes Everything

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Coffee And Classic Rock](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Coffee+And+Classic+Rock).



> This story is dedicated to Coffee And Classic Rock, who gave me this wonderful writing prompt.
> 
> This story begins in mid-season four, around the time of my favorite episode "The Suitcase".

_"I don't want to make a career out of being there so you can kick me when you fail." Peggy said angrily._

_"I guess I'll have to talk to Kurt and Smitty." Don said coolly, trying not to let the intense hurt he was feeling at her rejection become apparent on the surface._

_"I guess so." Peggy said with finality and she stood up and walked out of Don Draper's office for the last time._

* * *

 

**Eighteen Months Later:**

Don Draper had been having a difficult time over the last year and a half. His wife had left him, his new business was floundering and he was drinking too much... _way_ too much. He felt completely and totally alone, and the only person in the entire world who still seemed to care about him was thousands of miles away and lay dying in a hospital. He had felt blue before, but he could never recall ever feeling this low.

This was the night of the big fight between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay. Don was supposed to have gone to watch the fight in the theater with Roger Sterling, but he simply wasn't in the mood. Once he had received the message that Anna Draper's niece had called, he had done everything he could to distract himself, but nothing had worked and he ended up getting drunk in his office and yelling at Kurt and Smitty until they finally just quit. The last thing he wanted was to have to be congenial and sober with Roger, Freddy Rumsen and a client who was a recovering alcoholic. He would rather sit and wallow in his misery alone at a bar.

Don sighed deeply and put his head in his hands. His attention was diverted when he heard the clamoring of female voices at the door to the bar. Out of curiosity he looked in their direction and was surprised to see that he recognized one of the women.

It was Peggy Olson, his former secretary and protégé. Peggy had opted not to follow him to his new agency, and her rejection had stung almost as much as his wife leaving him for another man. He couldn't help but stare at her. The last year and a half had been very kind to Peggy. She had matured into a very beautiful woman and she exuded confidence and grace. He watched her silently for a few moments but eventually he couldn't help himself and he called her name to get her attention.

"Peggy? Peggy Olson?"

Peggy would recognize that voice anywhere. She whirled around and saw the tall, lean figure of Don Draper sitting at the bar nursing his customary glass of bourbon.

"Don?" Peggy said incredulously.

Peggy walked briskly over to him. Don stood and he enfolded her into his arms in a warm hug.

"You look great! What've you been up to?" Don slurred.

Peggy winced at the overwhelming stench of bourbon. "I'm good. I was just out for drinks with some girls from work for my birthday."

"Oh, well happy birthday! Let me buy you a drink."

Peggy looked in the direction of the other girls. "I don't know, I was kind of on my way out."

Don patted the barstool next to him. "Stay, have drink with me. I'll take you home." Don said with a slow grin on his face.

Peggy sighed, "Hold on." She said and she walked over to her friends with an apologetic look on her face.

"Thank you so much for a fun evening ladies, but that's my old boss over there. I haven't seen him in forever and he doesn't seem well tonight. I'm going to pour him into a cab and make sure that he gets home safely."

"Is that _the_ Don Draper? He's _very_ handsome," one of Peggy's co-workers said dreamily. Peggy rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Another one of Peggy's co-workers wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He's a drunk Peggy. Just let him be. Come on, we want to go dancing!"

Peggy shook her head, "Some other time. Thanks again."

Peggy waved and then came back to sit next to Don at the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"Whatever he's having. Thank you."

Don looked over and smiled. "So which birthday is it if you don't mind my asking?" Don asked as the bartender placed Peggy's drink in front of her.

Peggy took a sip of her drink before answering. "Twenty-six."

"Well, you're doing all right aren't you? What are you, a copy chief now? That's great sweetheart. I'm really proud of you."

Peggy looked at Don and she blushed. "Thanks Don."

Don took a sip of his drink. "So how do you like Gray? Is it everything you'd hoped?"

Peggy sighed deeply. "It's... _okay_."

Truth be told it was _not_ okay. Duck Phillips was fired last month after his stunt at the CLIO's, and before that, she'd broken up with him when he became too needy and possessive. After she'd lowered the boom, Duck had spouted off to anyone who would listen that she was easy and that the only reason Peggy had gotten where she was was because she'd screwed her way to the top. She had made few real friends at the new agency (none of them were what you would call close) and she'd become a bit of an office pariah. She had been seriously considering looking elsewhere for work, and seeing Don in this bar seemed like kismet.

Don's heart soared once he heard Peggy's lukewarm response about Gray. He had missed working with her terribly. During their brief time working together, they had developed a kind of shorthand that he had never experienced with anyone else before or since. To have her working with him again would be a dream come true.

"Well," Don said weighing his words carefully, "my offer still stands if you ever want to come work for us. I could use a writer of your caliber on my team." He thought for sure she could see right through him and he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her.

"Are you serious?" Peggy asked with what she felt was too much excitement.

Don heard that note of interest in her voice and he looked at her and smiled sincerely. "Absolutely."

"What about Kurt and Smitty?" Peggy asked.

"They quit. Apparently I'm _difficult_ to work for." Don said wryly.

Peggy burst out laughing. "You can say that again!" She saw the wounded look on Don's face and she covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her laughter. "I'm sorry, Don. Your offer _is_ very flattering and I will give it some serious thought."

Don smiled and there was a sudden commotion on the radio and Don turned his attention forward and began shouting. "Get up! _Get up!"_

Peggy furrowed her brow in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Don sighed deeply, "Liston lost. Some fight, I lost a hundred bucks in three minutes. Come on, get your things. I'll take you home."

* * *

 

They ended up going to Don's apartment instead. Peggy wasn't convinced that Don could make it home safely once he dropped her off, and truthfully Peggy was worried about him. She had heard about his divorce and she'd also heard the rumors about how his drinking had escalated in recent months. Don had always been a drinker, but only to excess on a few occasions. She had never seen him in as bad a shape as he had been in that evening. Something was definitely wrong. They had never been close...she knew him about as well as anyone did she suspected, and probably better than most having been his secretary. But they had never been known to have personal conversations. He knew about her time in the hospital, and she knew about his affair with Bobbie Barrett, among others. It was because of his words to her in the hospital that she felt compelled to help him out that night. She knew that if he had found her in a similar state, that he would've helped her too.

Peggy helped Don walk up the stairs to his apartment, supporting his large frame by putting his arm around her shoulders. Once they reached his door, Don informed her that his keys were in his pants pocket. Peggy gingerly reached in and grabbed the keys and unlocked the door. They staggered into his apartment and Peggy deposited Don on his couch.

Peggy turned the lights on and was appalled by the state of Don's apartment. There were bottles of booze everywhere and there were dirty dishes all over the kitchen. It was dark and depressing.

"Sorry about the mess. The cleaning woman will be here tomorrow." Don said from the couch.

Peggy grimaced and she began rustling around in his filthy kitchen, looking for some coffee to make for herself.

"Can you make me a drink!" Don asked from his seat on the couch.

Peggy sighed and came to stand in front of him. "How long are you going to go on like this? I know we've never really talked about anything personal, but I'm here and I'm willing to listen if you want to talk."

"I'm fine Peggy. Just make me a drink."

Peggy sighed but she did as she was asked. She handed him his glass and then sat down next to him on the couch. Don took a sip and then set the glass down on the coffee table and stared at his hands.

"I ruined everything. My family, my wife my kids." Don blurted out. "My son, my two year-old thinks Betty's new husband is his father." Don took another, longer drink and set the glass down on the table.

"I'm not the man you think I am, Peggy. I am a coward and a liar."

"I'm sure that's not true." Peggy said reassuringly.

Don took a deep breath and then he began. "I took another man's name and have been living as him ever since." Don looked over at Peggy to gauge her reaction but she said nothing. Don continued. "My brother came to find me, to reconnect with his only family, and I told him to go away. I found out later that he killed himself."

Peggy's heart sank. She began rubbing circles on his back. "I'm so sorry, Don. I didn't know you had a brother."

Don sighed. "A good friend of mine is dying as we speak in California. All I have to do is make one simple phone call, to say goodbye but I can't bring myself to do it."

"I'm sure she knows how you feel." Peggy said weakly.

Don shook his head. "No. She is one of the sweetest, most selfless human beings I have ever met. She deserves so much better than me. Once she's gone I will have no one."

Peggy smiled sadly, "That's not true. You have me."

Don looked at her face, into her two beautiful blue eyes and he felt something that he hadn't felt in a very long time...hope. He felt hopeful that he might be able to make it through this horrible time and come out the other end okay.

Don stopped to consider what had just occurred for a minute. He had essentially confessed to _everything_ and Peggy hadn't even batted an eye.

"Peggy did you hear what I told you just now? All of it?"

Peggy nodded. "Don, I've known you for a while. I've always known you've had secrets...I was your secretary, remember? We _all_ have secrets and skeletons in our closets. You already know about most of mine. I'm not going to judge you for your past. I _am_ sorry to hear about your brother though."

Don reached over and squeezed her hand. He then suddenly stood up and went to his bedroom, leaving Peggy sitting alone on the couch in confusion. He returned a few minutes later with a beat up old shoebox. He opened it and she saw that it was full of old photographs and memorabilia.

Don held up a picture of what appeared to be a younger version of himself with a young boy who was sitting on a horse.

"That's me, and that's my little brother Adam." Peggy carefully took the picture from Don's hands and she examined it, turning it over and seeing written in ink on the back, _Dick and Adam, 1944._

"Is that your first name? Dick?" Peggy asked.

Don nodded. "Yes." Don rustled up a few more pictures and then showed her a picture of two very severe looking adults. "This is my father, Archibald Whitman, and this is my stepmother Abigail. She hated me."

Peggy frowned, "How come?"

"Because my mother was a prostitute that my father saw while they were married, and I was a constant reminder of my father's infidelities."

Peggy nodded, encouraging him to go on. Don showed her several other pictures, including one of Abigail with a different man. "That's Uncle Mac. Abigail took up with him after my father died and we lost our farm. He was nice to me."

Don showed Peggy a picture of himself as a young man in an army uniform.

"I joined the army to get away from there. The place we moved to was not a nice place. I suppose you could call it a boarding house, but it was a really a whorehouse. I had to get out of there." Don repeated.

Don picked up two sets of dog tags from inside the box. "There was an accident...an explosion. It was my fault. My CO, the real Donald Draper was killed and I was injured. I switched tags with him so that the army would think I was him. They sent me home a few weeks later."

Don then produced a couple of legal documents. "Lt. Draper's wife came and found me later after I had used her husband's serial number to get a driver's license. She could've turned me in but she chose not to for some reason. I bought her a house in California and stayed legally married to her for a couple of years until I met Betty, and then I asked her for a divorce."

"Is this the woman who is sick?"

Don nodded. "Anna. She's a great lady."

Peggy could see that Don was getting upset. She put her hand on his back and began rubbing circles again. "Why don't you call now? I'll stay here with you if you want."

Don sighed. "No, I will call in the morning." Don looked at his watch. "Jesus, it's late. You shouldn't be out this late at night. Why don't you stay here. You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch." Before Peggy could respond, Don went into his bedroom and produced a clean t-shirt. "You can sleep in this."

Peggy took the shirt and smiled. "Thank you, Don. I'll go change." Peggy excused herself and changed into Don's t-shirt which was much too big for her. When she emerged from Don's bathroom Don had changed into his pajamas.

"Come here." Don asked softly. Peggy obeyed and stepped forward. Don opened his arms and enfolded Peggy in a warm hug.

"Thank you, sweetheart for being here with me tonight. I know this isn't exactly how you planned to spend your birthday. You're a good friend."

"You're welcome, Don. I'm glad I get to repay you for everything you did for me...you know...when I was in the hospital."

Don nodded knowingly. "I remember. Come on, let's get you into bed."

Don led her to his bedroom and she was surprised to see that everything was as neat as a pin, given the general disarray of the rest of the apartment. Don turned down the bed for her and turned to leave, but Peggy spoke up. "You really don't have to leave Don. That couch is too small for you to sleep on. We can share. I'm not worried about you taking advantage of me or anything. You would never do that to me. Now come on, I'm exhausted. Let's get some sleep."

Don chuckled and pulled down the covers on his side of the bed and climbed in beside Peggy. Peggy surprised him by scooting close to him and putting her hand across his chest. Don put his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into the nook that his body created. This was far more intimate than he had ever expected them to be, but he found that he was able to relax very easily. He kissed her hair and then he drifted off to sleep with relative ease.

Peggy woke up the next morning alone in Don's bed. She heard his voice coming from the other room so she decided to check on him. She stopped in the doorway of Don's room so as to not disturb him, but she still heard his half of the conversation.

"I'm sorry I didn't call. I was...did she want to talk to me?"

"I'm coming out. I'll make the arrangements."

"Of course she did. I'm coming out. I'll take care of the house."

"Of course. That's fine."

"That's what they say."

"Okay. Goodbye."

Peggy could see Don fold into himself as he began sobbing. Peggy grabbed a box of tissues and tiptoed over to him and sat down next to him on the couch. She put her hand on his back while Don sobbed quietly for a few minutes. Once he had recovered himself and had taken one of Peggy's proffered tissues and wiped his eyes, he turned to Peggy and and took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"She's gone...I'm sure you probably figured that out."

"I'm so sorry, Don. I really am."

After a few moments Don stood and Peggy followed suit. He stood and looked at her...really looked at her. She was so beautiful, even as disheveled as she was this early in the morning. Why has he never noticed this before? Those earnest blue eyes that used to make him feel as though he was being judged, now only showed concern for him. And there was something else there besides just concern. He wasn't prepared to say what it was just yet, but he suspected that there was a growing affection on her side just as there was on his. He reached out and cupped her cheek, brushing her skin lightly with his thumb. Peggy felt an unfamiliar stirring within her.

"Thank you Peggy. I don't think I could've gotten through this without you." Don leaned down and kissed her softly her forehead.

Peggy's stomach fluttered at Don's intimate gesture. Don stood up to his full height and cleared his throat.

"I'm going to shower and get ready for work. You're welcome to make yourself some breakfast. There's coffee in the cabinet over the sink."

"Okay, Don."

While Don showered, Peggy busied herself by tidying up Don's kitchen and making a pot of coffee. She then changed back into her dress and managed to fix her hair so that it was presentable. Don emerged from his bedroom looking sharp in a perfectly pressed dark blue suit. He came into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Listen Peggy, there are a couple of things I want to ask you." Don said with a note of apprehension in his voice.

Peggy nodded expectantly, "Sure Don, go ahead."

"Number one, will you _please_ consider coming to work for me? I have to present to Samsonite in a couple of weeks and I need a writer. I am not above begging." Don said dramatically.

Peggy chuckled, "I'll think about it. What's the second thing?"

"Will you have dinner with me tonight?"

Peggy furrowed her brow in confusion. "What, like as in a date?"

Don's face turned red with embarrassment and he nodded bashfully. "Yes."

Peggy smirked. "I don't know Don, whatever happened to _I'm your boss, not your boyfriend?"_

Don frowned, "Did I say that to you?"

Peggy nodded, "Yes you did, on my very first day."

Don chuckled. "Well, a _lot_ has changed since then."

"I don't want anyone to think you only hired me because we're sleeping together." Peggy said seriously.

Don sighed, "Peggy, I want to hire you because you're good. I--I missed you, very much. We worked well together. I know I can be difficult, but you are the only writer I've ever worked with who has challenged me and inspired me."

Peggy smiled, "Go on."

"And as for the other thing you said, I haven't even properly kissed you yet. If and when the other stuff happens, we'll just have to be discrete."

Peggy grinned, "I think I can manage that."

Don leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips and Peggy felt a thrill of excitement shoot through her. The kiss was brief and chaste, but it left both of them wanting more.

"I'll pick you up at eight." Don said with a grin.

Peggy blushed prettily. "That sounds great."

Don then looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry to keep asking this, but what do you think about the other part? Coming to work with me at SCDP?"

Peggy shook her head and laughed. "I'll turn in my two weeks notice today."

Don grinned. "Perfect."

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not proceed with additional chapters to this fic, chronicling Don and Peggy's journey through this alternate universe of season four. We'll see.


End file.
